No one wants to get divorced. But no one wants to be stuck in a bad marriage, either. And sometimes, you have to choose between the two — and accept the financial fallout if you go your own way.

Commonly cited research shows that women tend to be worse off money-wise after divorce; they typically see a sharper decline in household income and a greater risk of poverty than their male exes, especially in their first year post-split. But it doesn’t always have to be so bad — and it often isn’t. “There’s a common fear of losing everything you have when you get divorced,” says Nanci Smith , a divorce lawyer who practices in Vermont and New York. “But that fear is outsized to reality, and it shouldn’t keep people in unhappy marriages.”

If you’re contemplating a divorce but you’re spooked

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